Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
But gray areas exist in how authorities deal with the problem. Animal advocates claim that
inexperienced veterinarians pack the neutered dogs into overcrowded cages, load them into
trucks,anddumptheminBelgradeForest,about10milesnortheastofthecityneartheBlack
Sea coast. There, the dogs are often attacked by wild animals or starve. “In the end, it would
be better to put the animals to sleep than to release them in the unfamiliar wilderness,” says
Bilge Okay. “But that would be against the religious beliefs of the people operating these fa-
cilities.”
Sincestatus-consciousTurkshavelittleinterestinkeepingmixed-breeddogsaspets,some
of these animals make their way to Germany, where new owners adopt them. But this in-
volves bureaucratic hurdles and high costs, especially since the dogs cannot simply be sent
airfreight but must be accompanied by someone to transport and deliver them.
The city today is also full of stray cats. They have it better—nobody is out to kill them.
But that's another chapter in the story of humans and animals in Istanbul.
